Let the Sun Rain Down On Me
by TheGirlWhoSawImagination
Summary: Not quite human, but he had tried to rewrite his DNA code, to change who he was. But sometimes, the instincts would just have to overcome what he had put boundaries up for, it was natural, and she understood it, but he just wouldn't listen to her. It was the light and dark about him, the lightness and darkness.
1. Prologue: Light and Dark of Everything

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

_**PROLOGUE**_

_**THE LIGHT AND DARK OF EVERYTHING**_

There have always been two sides to one story. Never ever have there been three sides, because although people may claim something, there's always two people arguing, bickering, trying to overthrow the over. Just two sides; some may say that there was torture in two sides, so they would try to make up another. But there have always been two sides. And sometimes, those two sides grow into something else, something entirely different from what they once were. They grow into the light and dark. The lightness and darkness of one person has always been there, what somebody shows and what is actually there. She could have never known what he was hiding, although she blamed herself for not finding out sooner. She could have helped him, stopped him from doing that, but she didn't.

He stood before her, red, crimson liquid running down his shirt while most of it was being soaked up, his emerald green eyes wide as he looked at her. She didn't step back, though, as she didn't want to. She had known before now, but what he had done was just solidifying the fact. His arms were covered in blood, and so was the ground. He looked ashamed, guilty, as if he had done it on purpose. She had told him to go to the Hospital Wing, but he had never listened. "Oh, Harry," she cried, and he took a step back.

"Stay away from me, Gin," he hoarsely whispered, "I don't want you to be next."

She looked at him, and everything went slow as she locked eyes with him. They were wild, confused, saddened, instinctual, and so much more. But yet, she saw past that, she saw who he really was, what shouldn't be burdening him and what he had proved himself to be. She took a step forwards, and he took another step back. He didn't want to face the facts, and she knew it, because he wasn't facing something that she wanted him to see.

She was made to break, like all humans were. He was made to destroy, kill. But yet, he didn't follow those rules, he broke every single line that he had. He broke the rules, all for her and everybody else he knew. He wasn't a monster, he was just him. Not quite human, but he had tried to rewrite his DNA code, to change who he was. But sometimes, the instincts would just have to overcome what he had put boundaries up for, it was natural, and she understood it, but he just wouldn't listen to her. It was the light and dark about him, the lightness and darkness. But sometimes for a wound to heal, somebody else needed to step in, the third party. The third party needed to convince both of the sides, not just one or the other.

And she was the third party.

But how could she convince him, when all he did was say he was a monster, when he actually wasn't? How could she convince him that to overcome obstacles, he first had to heal? That was it, though. She couldn't. All she could do was try and comfort him at first, and slowly make her way to the top. "You are not a monster," she told him, "You are Harry James Potter, my damn boyfriend, and I love you. You are not a monster for what you cannot control, and it is not your fault," a crowd had started to gather, but she continued on, "So what if you had to slip up? Harry, it's not your fault. It's written in your DNA, written into you. What do you think your father would say if he was here? You now very damn well he would be telling you the same thing that I am telling you now. It is who you are, but you have to realize first that some things are written outside of your boundaries."

Taking a step forward, she ran at dead speed into him, catching him by surprise. She pulled him into a hug with all the strength she could bring. She looked up into those emerald green eyes that she loved so much, and ignoring the shouts from the teachers for her and the crowd to go away, she told him the three words that were so very true, "I love you." And she kissed him, she kissed him with all the ecstasy she had in her, her heart thrumming in her chest, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, but she ignored it. He kissed her back, his arms snaking around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck, neither of them listening to the warnings of their Head of House, nor of the gasps from the crowd or the shouts from her brothers. It was just her and him, lost in each other, and she felt his heart, thrumming and seemingly alive, beating in his chest, although not with his own blood. She didn't give a damn about that, though, instead, she focused solely on him, her thoughts clogged with love and him, and she didn't pay attention to what had just happened. She never did pay attention for quite a long while, trying to show him that although he wasn't born human, he still had the human emotions in him. The feelings of love, passion, hope, and grief and the feeling of being alive; he melted right into the kiss, not really caring about the audience or the body, either. It was just _**them**_.

And that was all she could ever ask for from him. Just him, not the fact that he wasn't something that he wanted to be, not the fact that he would probably be expelled for what he did, much less possibly being thrown into Azkaban; it was just him, nobody else.

That was all she wanted, all she needed. And she wasn't going to give up until the end of time.

**A/N: So, what did you all think? Good, bad, insanely angst even though that's not a genre I chose? Well, after quite a few days of trying to figure out the prologue, this is what I got. I think this was the third or fourth time I rewrote this, I really don't know. Anyways, thanks for reading so far!**


	2. Chapter 1: Halcyon

**Disclaimer: Don't own HP.**

_**PART 1: FIGURE 8**_

_**CHAPTER 1: HALCYON**_

"_**Say what you mean, tell me I'm right!" **_

Ginny sighed before turning the radio off. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't right either. She would be going into her third year at Hogwarts, and yet, Harry Potter was missing in action. He hadn't even come to the Quidditch World Cup, he hadn't replied to any of Ron or Hermione's letters, and he had left Privet Drive, which Dumbledore found out for them when his 'blood wards' failed. Ginny had to say, if Harry wanted to disappear, he really did do a good job at doing it. Mrs. Weasley, Ginny's mother, was beside herself, while Ron and Hermione were trying to figure out what had happened. The day after tomorrow, they would be returning to Hogwarts, and Ginny swore if Harry didn't come, that the other two in the trio were probably going to scream. Honestly, she couldn't blame them.

She guessed Harry might have gone with Sirius, but even that was far-fetched. So what possibly could be going on? Where was Harry if he wasn't with Sirius? Well, he could be with Remus, but she doubted that too. It was like the fourteen year old boy had just vanished from the face of the Earth, except that people still had memories of him. It was weird, just too weird for her. At least Fred and George had joked that he would turn up at Platform 9 ¾, healthy and happy, telling all of us that he had just played a big prank. But, if the protection had gone away, that would be a very bad joke, so she didn't think that he had done this on purpose in that way.

It was around midnight, and here she was, just thinking. Ginny almost snorted. She knew that everybody else in the house was asleep, or hopefully. She didn't like it when people were up during the night, or when her mother was constantly checking on her in her room. Well, after the Chamber, there was reason to be worried then, but definitely not now. It had been two years since then, and although Molly didn't check up on her as much, there was still the occasion when she would, much to the anger of Ginny. She was thirteen years old now! Surely that meant she didn't have to be treated like that!

A tapping came from her window, and Ginny jolted into a sitting position instantly. What was that? Turning to look at her window, she heard the tapping again, only to realize it was an owl. Who would want to mail her anything? So, Ginny then received a shock when she opened her window, and a snowy owl flew in. But, it was _**Hedwig**_. That meant Harry had sent her something! Odd, but at least she knew he was alive now.

Taking the envelope from Hedwig, who nipped her ear affectionately before flying back out the window, she immediately opened the envelope and took the letter out. It was definitely from him, the same slightly messy handwriting and same signature. So, she began reading.

_**Hey Ginny,**_

_** Probably wondering why I mailed you something. Well, happy birthday! I'm not exactly sure when you are going to get this, but it seemed like a good thing anyways, although it's already past your birthday. I'm okay, you can tell Ron and Hermione that much. A lot has been going on lately so I can't really reply to their letters. Make sure Hermione and Mrs. Weasley don't have kittens that would just be great if you could make sure of that.**_

_** As you probably know by now, I'm not at Privet Drive. I haven't been since my birthday, and I can't really tell you that either, in case this letter gets intercepted. I'm not returning back to Privet Drive either, I hate the Dursleys, to be honest. Too much hate to return back to them.**_

_** Well, other than that I don't have much to say. Anything I do will cause Hermione to research everything she can and Ron to act like he was confunded. You don't have to tell anything else in this letter to anybody now, but hey, you can choose. I need you to do me a favor, if you can before it's time to return to Hogwarts. I need you to ask Dumbledore about Blood Replenishing Charms, not potions. And, if he isn't there or if you can't ask him, ask Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about Dorea Potter, nee Black, if you can, or my dad. Please mail me a reply, Hedwig will come back tomorrow for you to mail your response, but if you think it will get intercepted, you can tell me on the train!**_

_** See you all at Platform 9 ¾!**_

_** Harry**_

Ginny blinked. Blood Replenishing Charms and Dorea and James Potter; just what the bloody hell was Harry doing? What was he thinking? She had to admit, all of this sounded suspicious. She then got ready for the night before falling asleep.

OoO

_**Harry,**_

_**I did what you asked. Wow, I didn't suspect those reactions! Mum almost screamed, so she called up Dumbledore by Floo and he came here, so I got to ask him about the Blood Replenishing Charms. He paled Godric knows how many shades before he asked me how I knew all of this. Didn't tell him anything, besides the fact that you told me you're okay, which got mixed reactions, since Ron and Hermione came down at that point. Hermione's probably writing a speech to try and make you feel guilty, and Ron was just shocked that you would owl me instead of those two.**_

_**Anyways, I got what you wanted. A Blood Replenishing Charm is where somebody cannot take a potion, and instead has a Charm on them so that their blood is basically copying itself over and over again, but it wears off eventually. Why did you want to know that information? Please tell me you aren't thinking about putting it on yourself! That would be an insane idea, Harry! Mum and Dumbledore wouldn't tell me about Dorea and James, though. Who is the former anyways? I don't think I've heard about her before, but maybe I have, I don't know.**_

_**Hermione and Ron say hi and Hermione demands that you tell them everything tomorrow. Can't say that I blame them, since you disappeared on the night before your birthday! That was an unwise decision, I tell you.**_

_**See ya tomorrow!**_

_**Ginny**_

Harry nodded before putting the letter on his nightstand. He got some of the information he needed, just not all of it. Damn Blood Replenishing Charm wore off on his birthday, so he was going to have to tell them. . . . If he could do that; nobody knew where he was at the moment, and Harry needed it to stay that way. It would be unbearable to explain to them where exactly he was now living or staying at, but telling them what had happened was going to be harder than the other one. Much harder; hell, Ron might not want to be his friend anymore. He had owled Ginny because he knew that she would be more understanding about what he asked for, and not act like Ron and Hermione. Besides, he had to admit, he did fancy her.

Holding his head in his hands, Harry mentally cursed quite a long list of things. Disappearing had been needed to escape the Dursleys and Privet Drive, so Dumbledore wouldn't send him back there. Not like the headmaster could, not while Harry was like this. He wondered if the man even knew of all of this, or if his father and grandmother had kept this all under wraps. Even that bit was hard to believe, but he thought it made the most logical answer. If they had kept this a secret, though, how would have James had survived his seven years at Hogwarts? Even logic made no sense at all sometimes, but this was just going to get out of hand.

He would be glad to see his friends again, in reality. But, Harry knew that Hermione would have a ton of questions and Ron would just be shocked beyond words. He wouldn't blame them, though; he had the same reaction when he first realized what was happening. Having woken up in the middle of the night, almost ready to scream bloody murder, he had known that he would have to leave Privet Drive. But this time, he didn't use the Knight Bus. That would have been too easy for somebody to spot him, for somebody to realize what was going on. He had been on his own for Merlin knows how long, trying to find some place that wouldn't question him. And then, he found this place. Nobody else had lived here, so he didn't question it and just went inside, before finding out that everything was in perfect shape.

At that point, he had decided he would stay here, and seeing how it was a house owned by him, he didn't have to worry about other people buying it or anything. It wasn't anything grand, either. It had three floors, four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, one of the full ones being an en suite connected to the master bedroom, which was now his bedroom. It was nice, living here, although it had only been for a month. And it was the perfection of the house that made him stay instead of going somewhere else. That and the isolation; he knew it was stupid to not reply to the letters from Hermione and Ron, but he would reveal to much in them, and he would have to admit he was fine, but he couldn't tell them where he was. That would just arise to many suspicions from Hermione.

Knowing that he wouldn't get any sleep tonight, Harry got off his bed before checking to make sure that he had everything in his trunk that he needed, having gone shopping last week, although wearing a watch that altered his appearance slightly so he looked like he had before he left from Hogwarts. Thankfully, it wasn't very busy, with the Quidditch World Cup going on. Harry was slightly saddened that he didn't get to go to the tournament, but it was worth it in the end.

Hedwig hooted from her cage, while he grabbed his trunk and put it downstairs, not really minding the fact that it was nearly pitch black in the house, with the exception for the occasional stream of moonlight through the windows, although that was when the cloudy sky would allow them to. It seemed like a bad omen to return to Hogwarts, although he paid no attention to that. He already had had Dobby try to stop him from going back to his education in his second year; he wasn't going to let a damn cloudy night convince him that it was a bad idea. Besides, nobody could stop him this time. Not the Dursleys, Dobby, or any other third party. He almost laughed at the idea of the Dursleys trying to stop him. Dumbledore would have had a few words with them, and—No, thinking about it wouldn't help out the situation.

Remembering what Ginny's letter had said, he wasn't exactly sure he would want to get on the train, to just wind up enduring Hermione's rant and a heavy load of questions. That was not going to be fun, and he also didn't want them to get all sympathetic and pity him. Harry did not like pity, and that was that. Hermione would probably know a bunch about it, since she probably had read through all of their school books, including the extra one, which he assumed was for a new class of the sorts. He had also read through his school books, having unlimited time on his hands because he didn't have any chores to do. He had to say, the book _**Dark Creatures **_by Cedrella White was interesting, having a very strong list of 'diseases' that a human could get. The author was obviously very sympathetic towards them, considering the fact that she had said that what we classified people as dark creatures, in reality, it all depended on how they used their abilities or what they did, and she couldn't have been more correct, in Harry's opinion. But it just wasn't diseases, because the book also had veela and soul-bonds in it, as well as other only hereditary things and certain conditions that could just pop up out of the blue. It was also a relatively new book, but Harry thought his parents would have been proud if they had read it, since magical Britain was so backwards on subjects like that. She had just given it that title to make sure that she didn't get in trouble, he had figured out by the time he had finished the book.

Making his way into the living room, Harry then crashed onto a comfy armchair, staring at the fireplace, which was still connected to the Floo Network, although the wards having been put up wouldn't allow anybody except for people Harry allowed to come through. He had made it so that the whole Weasley clan, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, and McGonagall could come through, although he doubted that the latter two would actually want to come to this place. But since nobody knew where he was, he really didn't have any company to actually come and visit him, which was pretty ironic, in his opinion.

Ron, Hermione, and hopefully Ginny would all have to tell him what he had missed over the course of the month he had been here. He knew that they had gone to the Quidditch World Cup, and that Ginny had done the favor that he asked for, but other than that he had been left in the dark. Well, there also the letters, but it was usually Hermione demanding him to reply and Ron going on about Quidditch and both of them asking if he was alright. He knew that lying to them wasn't going to work, and he had been trying to find out everything he could from the small library this house had, not to mention the need of isolation, that he didn't reply to their letters. He knew it would hurt and worry them, but he really didn't want to make them even more worried than they already were. This was his problem, not theirs.

It had started out early on the day before his birthday, July 30th. He had felt nauseous, dizzy, exhausted, and had almost thrown up the little food he was allowed to have. And having been acting like a slave as usual, he thought it was normal, so he didn't send any letters to Sirius, Ron, or Hermione. But it had escalated that night; Harry gave an involuntary shudder, he didn't want to think about it at all. It was a horrifying experience, and he definitely did not want to relive it for a while.

He looked at the clock on the wall; 4:23. Almost seven hours until the Hogwarts Express would make its way towards, well, Hogwarts. Almost seven hours until he would have to face the wrath of his friends. Almost seven hours until he would have to tell about what exactly had happened over the summer. He sighed at the thought; it was not going to be a fun experience to have to tell that much information all at once. And he hoped that Ginny would be there too, since he owed her a big explanation as to why he asked her that favor. He didn't exactly mind telling her, but Ron and Hermione; even though they were his best friends, he didn't exactly want to see their reactions. Having _**this **_as a birthday present was not fun at all. If it could have happened the day after he had returned from Hogwarts, he could have accepted that. That would have meant he wouldn't have had to deal with the Dursleys and their neglect and abuse. It would have meant he would have had time to owl Ron and Hermione, and it would have meant his isolation period would have happened earlier. Maybe he could have even gone to the Quidditch World Cup, under disguise of course.

He had exchanged some post with his godfather, Sirius Black, although it wasn't much. The multicolored birds that made occasional appearances in his bedroom always had letters from Sirius, although towards the end of summer they had soon become owls. This had sparked some worry from Harry, not wanting Sirius to be caught by British Aurors and then subject to the Dementor's Kiss, although for safety reasons he didn't voice them in his replies. Sirius wrote as an alias, _**Snuffles**_, to keep his identity safe and so that people wouldn't know who he was, but Harry knew that if anybody ever intercepted his post they would find out who was sending Harry those letters soon enough.

Maybe it was just the fact that he had been going slightly stir crazy being trapped inside the house for a month, but he was slightly panicking about the school year. It wouldn't be just the Weasleys who were still at school and Hermione who had noticed what had happened; everybody else would. And how could he explain that? That was just the thing, he didn't know how.

Damn it.

Harry then got up and walked to the kitchen, where he took out a glass from the cabinets and filled it with water, before he gulped it down, but it didn't work. Putting the glass on the counter, Harry then went back upstairs and just sat on his bed. Hedwig hooted once again from her cage, and he smiled for once. At least she had been out sending a letter to Hermione and Ron when he had escaped from Privet Drive. It was a nice thought, about not having to go back there ever again. Being free from those horrible bastards was a good decision, although he knew that Dumbledore wouldn't like his sudden actions on it, it had to be done.

Three hours later, Harry got up from his brooding and got ready for the day, grabbed Hedwig's cage, and put it on the coffee table in the living room, before fixing himself a breakfast of toast and eggs, trying to not overly think about what would happen. He was about ready to bang his head on the table, but he didn't. That wouldn't be very good for the table, he knew that. Hell, it was probably a bad idea to tell Ginny that he would be at the Platform tomorrow; they might not even recognize him at this point, as much as he hated to admit it. But he needed to continue his education anyways, so he would have to go.

For the next three hours, he reviewed his homework, made last minute additions to it, and finished one of the books from the small library that he had been reading, trying to keep his mind off of the extreme questions that were buzzing around his mind. He knew it was bad to get overly worried, although he couldn't help it. So many things could go wrong. Hell, he could wind up with disaster on his hands. Maybe it would be better to just stay—but, he had promised Ginny that he would be there at Platform 9 ¾.

Another three hours later, Harry Floo'd to Kings' Cross Station, only to be met with the growing business of Platform 9 ¾.

OoO

Ginny felt like she was about to be physically sick and go around skipping with happiness all at once. Ron and Hermione seemed to be just itching to receive news about him, and it just seemed to be infectious. Of course, Ginny knew that he would be on the train, but the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione did not. She knew it was probably a bad idea to not tell them, she figured that Harry wanted it to be a surprise, but would he actually come? Worrying like this was going to do her no good, but she couldn't help it. He had asked her for the favor, and she knew of people who wouldn't give anything in return for a favor; _**Tom**_ was one of them.

Fred and George were talking excitedly about what kind of pranks they would be pulling off this year, much to the disappointment of Molly; Ginny could tell. Ron, as always, was eating his breakfast as if he hadn't eaten in days and Hermione barely touched hers, her eyes glazed with worry. Percy, the git, had already gone to his job at the Ministry with only a few pieces of toast. She knew she shouldn't be so upset about it, but he was just slowly drifting away from the family. _**Slowly**_ was a terrible thought, because she knew about the agony he would wind up causing when he actually disowned everybody in the family. She knew it; Fred and George probably did too, but nobody else in the family did. They didn't realize the danger, and although she wanted to tell them, she knew that they wouldn't believe her. So, Ginny just kept her mouth shut about that and what most of Harry's letter had said. It was a wise thing to do, in her mind, but probably not the best thing to do.

The whole atmosphere of the kitchen just seemed tense. She wanted to say something; that she knew that Harry was going to be at the Platform, that he would be coming to Hogwarts, anything to soothe the fears everybody in the room was having. But, she didn't say a word. _**That **_would be an unwise decision. When Hedwig had came around midnight, she was almost caught by Hermione, since the almost-fifteen year old girl had woken up and asked her what she was doing. When she had received Harry's letter, thankfully, she had been sound asleep, but the excuse she made the second time was that she had gotten a glass of water and came up after finishing it; Hermione seemed to buy it.

At the moment, Ginny was currently tapping her fork on her scrambled eggs, which made a particular bouncy motion, but it helped ease her worries. It helped her make sure that she wouldn't suddenly freak out or say anything that she shouldn't have. But, the air in the kitchen, if anything, made her more uneasy. "Ginny, stop playing with your food," Molly scolded her, causing Fred and George to suddenly snicker, although she didn't find it that funny.

"Yes Mum," she replied in a monotonous voice, before using her fork to scoop up some eggs.

The rest of the morning was spent for last minute packing and in Ginny's case, last minute worrying. When it was finally time for them to go to Kings' Cross station, they took the Knight Bus. The whole time, Ginny drummed her fingers on the armrest of her seat, although the action went unnoticed by the rest of the family. It was too bad they didn't have the car, although she didn't really care. It hadn't really mattered to her anyways, the car. Yes, she liked muggle technology, she just didn't fawn over it, and she had seen muggle cars before, they just didn't fly. She almost snorted, of course they didn't fly.

When they arrived at the train station, she met up with her friend, Luna, whom had gone to Finland for her summer, and she joined them on trying to find a train compartment, talking to Ginny excitedly about her trip had been. She listened, and nodded her head from time to time, as they kept on trying to find an empty compartment on the train. They were almost at the end, when a compartment with its door closed and blinds up suddenly opened, and something pulled the four of them inside, and Ginny blinked in surprise.

A boy roughly three inches taller than Ron stood there as they all fell onto one of the benches. He had black hair, ivory skin, and emerald green eyes. But, he wasn't wearing his trademark glasses, and his hair was messier than usual. But there was no doubt about it, he was actually there.

"Harry?"

**A/N: Cliffhangers, I love writing them! Although, I'm pretty sure nobody else does. This chapter is shorter than the rest, and I'm not exactly proud of it. But hey, a good start! Sorry about the late update, I'm evil, I know. Birthday celebrations and severe writers' block the normal jazz that I get. Anyways, any guesses or questions? They shall all be answered, but I'm interested on your theories on what happened when Harry disappeared for that month. I know it seems underrated that people wouldn't do anything, but the public didn't know he was missing, and the Order hadn't formed yet.**

**Response to Review by Loveandpower: Yep, and they shall be answered. . . . Eventually; who said he changed his DNA? It could have always been like that—he tried. Thanks for the review!**


	3. Chapter 2: Reunion

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

_**PART ONE: FIGURE 8**_

_**CHAPTER TWO: REUNION**_

"Harry?" Ginny looked at him in shock while she spoke.

Although she knew it was him, she had the feeling that he had changed and not only in appearance. How? Well, she didn't exactly know, but it was almost tangible in the air. He was hiding something, she knew that for sure.

Harry smiled and asked, "Yes?"

A slight unease washed over her as to what had happened while he was gone. Surely it wasn't anything too bad, right? He had to be okay! But yet—she had a feeling he wasn't fine at all. Worse than any other year, really; he looked to be in almost physical pain, the smile tight and his eyes filled with fear, disgust, hatred, and hope. Was he angry at himself? Why did he have to be angry? He looked fine, at least in her eyes, although she knew that something was up. Harry would have told them something unless it had to deal with him personally or he was in severe danger, or he was purposely hiding something. Something that she was sure she wanted to know, although now she was slightly rethinking it.

Mentally shuddering, Ginny braced herself for his explanation, knowing it had to be a good one. If it wasn't, well, she didn't know what to make out of it then. She noticed that Harry had his mouth shut, and she could tell his jaw was clenched, as if he was trying to stop something. His smile slowly turned into a frown, before he looked at the three of them, as if suspecting an outburst. Although Ginny desperately wanted to give him a piece of her mind, she knew that was Hermione's place, as one of his best friends. Not hers and it wouldn't ever be; although, she hoped that it could be one day.

For a moment, she almost forgot to breathe from anticipation, until she realized that her lungs were growing uncomfortable so she took a deep breath, trying to see if Hermione was going to overreact. The girl, whose eyes were beginning to narrow as her once paled face was growing quite flushed from anger, but still the almost-fifteen year old girl didn't say a single word. For a split second, Ginny suspected that the girl wasn't going to say anything—

"Harry James Potter!" she finally exclaimed, and Ginny almost jumped in surprise, "How dare you leave us worrying like that? You could have gotten hurt or even worse, killed! Why did you decide to just suddenly disappear the night before your birthday? Do you know how I reacted when Ron sent me a letter telling me one of my best friends was missing? How could you have done that? Where have you been anyways?" finished with her rant, Hermione looked at Harry expectantly, who did have some remorse in his expression, although Ginny knew that that was only because he felt bad he had worried them so much.

"I can't tell you," Harry finally said after a few more moments of silence, "If you can guess it on your own, then good for you. Hermione, I don't want pity for this, and you're going to give me pity if I tell you. You know I don't like pity; I'll tell you soon enough." He then looked over at Ginny, as if he was trying to judge by her expression if she realized what exactly was going on. But, she didn't, and as that, she didn't know what she should do, although she was trying to put the very different pieces together.

Blood Replenishing Charms had a vital importance with this, she knew that. But why and how they were so important, the answer to that question stumped her.

Ginny looked up at Harry, trying to rethink everything she had originally thought. She had known the Dursleys were bad, but so bad that he would run away? No, Harry knew that Dumbledore wanted him there, but to disobey the direct orders from the headmaster of Hogwarts? There had to be something more to this, although she didn't exactly know what it was. But judging by what he said, it was something bad. Maybe she just didn't want to know, although she convinced herself that that was lie. She wanted to know why Harry had left them like this, and she wanted to know what had happened to him over the summer.

Harry then looked away, a stereotypical sign of a lie or guilty conscience. For the first time, Ginny was slightly afraid. He was normally brave, not as moody, and well. . . . He was Harry. He was him now, just not exactly containing the same personality before summer break, before he had vanished. Something was up; she knew that much for sure. But exactly what? Ginny really needed to figure this out, although she had a feeling that Harry didn't want her too at all.

"Where were you, mate?" Ron asked, causing Harry's attention to go over to him. Ginny silently thanked her brother for letting her have more time to think.

"Here and there," Harry answered quickly, "Not at the Leaky Cauldron, mind you—I've just been. . . . Around," he finished, although the lie was clearly evident.

Ginny bit back her retort to call him a liar, very well knowing that it could lead to him just getting angry. She didn't want that, knowing very well that he chose to bottle up a lot of his emotions. She doubted if he had ever really had a blow-up or a temper tantrum as a child. From what Ron and the Twins had told her, he had never really been treated right. When they had rescued him, they had discovered he had been starved and had bars on his window. That was a bad sign, although she never spoke to her mother about it, as she would surely be pranked by the Twins for that, and Ron would just probably go and tell her to mind her own business. Little had he known that Tom had been there to comfort her later in the summer—she wouldn't think about him again for hopefully a little longer.

Closing her eyes, she heard the train lurch forward, although she paid no attention to it. "Are you alright, Ginny?" Harry asked her, and her eyes fluttered open and she turned to look at him.

"I'm fine," she said, knowing that he was probably in worse condition. His skin was ivory-colored now! Yes, he had always been pale, but never like this. "Just a little anxious," she lied, but although he didn't seem to buy it, he nodded, and she closed her eyes again. Thank Godric that he didn't like to prod into other people's problems.

She didn't feel fine from thinking about Tom. Thinking about him and her first year at Hogwarts always made her feel slightly queasy, and the train beginning to pick up speed wasn't helping all too much. For a moment, she felt like Harry, in the sense that he tried to convince everybody that nothing was wrong with him. Ginny mentally laughed at herself. If she hadn't known that her life would never be average, she would have thought that these were just teenage hormones. But no; it was probably not that at all. Sometimes, she truly did hate the other girls in her year—talking about boys, discussing about what they wanted to do in their lives, gossiping. Although she wasn't even like them, not a tiny bit, they had it easy. They weren't possessed by a madman and they didn't know that her brother and Harry Potter were trying to figure out another tragic accident that happened every year.

Once again opening her eyes, she could taste the tension in the air that had appeared while she had been entirely concentrated on her thoughts. Hermione was looking at Harry worriedly, while his jaw was clenched once again. Ron looked confused, and at this point, Luna had moved over to the opposite bench, reading the latest edition of _**the Quibbler **_upside down, her wand tucked behind her ear like always. "Could you at least tell us what's wrong?" Hermione asked carefully, looking at Harry.

"No," he said tightly, and she wondered just what exactly was happening to him. It was like he was having a mental battle, for some odd reason, and it looked like he was losing the war raging on inside his head. Ginny was actually scared for him, not knowing what exactly was causing this reaction. Finally, he let out a sigh, and he looked up at them with remorse as he added, "It has to do with most of the questions you're asking, Hermione."

"Are you ill?" Hermione asked, "Harry, maybe we should get Madam Pomfrey once we get to Hogwarts."

"Yes and no," he replied, shaking his head, "I'm. . . . Sick in some ways, fine in others; and no, I don't need Madam Pomfrey. She can't help me, as much as you probably think she could." He paused, before continuing on, "I was slightly expecting you to connect the pieces together, although I think Ginny has a bigger chance at that then you do for once, Hermione."

Why did she have a chance?

She knew about the Blood Replenishing Charm, yes, and that they were of vital importance, but other than that she had no clue. Ginny knew that she did know it, from somewhere, but the actual topic was not there. If anything, she was drawing a blank. And she also didn't want to make herself go into an overdrive all for nothing, although it looked as if that was what Harry was trying to do. Think about it hard, and then solve the question in a blink of an eye. She wasn't as quick as that, thank you very much, although it seemed that today he was. That also wasn't natural. It wasn't natural for a human. . . . Harry looked disappointed when she didn't respond to his sentence, although she wanted to take out all the impossible choices first before she jumped to any conclusions or accusations—spending almost a whole month with Hermione had really taken its toll on her way of thinking, it seemed.

_C'mon Ginny, think, damn it!_

But no matter her encouraging thoughts and anger, she couldn't figure it out. At least, not yet; she was going to try and solve this mystery before the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station. Even if it meant mental exhaustion, she was going to figure this out. She had to figure this out. Ginny suspected that Harry wanted her to be the one to do so, and although she felt for certain that she wouldn't be able to; there was no sense in not trying.

Blood Replenishing Charm; the most useful and deadly Charm in the world, that technically it shouldn't even be called a charm. But yet, it was. It could save a person's life, but in the end it would kill them. Copying blood over and over again would eventually just make it all bleed out of the person's system. There had to be a reason why Harry asked her about what it was. Like he was providing her with a clue and nothing more; but the clue, it also had vital importance. Those pieces fitted together, although she still had quite a few pieces left. Why had Harry's appearance changed? She could understand a rapid growth spurt, but if he was traveling, wouldn't his skin be tan? And what had happened to his glasses? She knew that there was a really expensive procedure to fix a person's eyes the wizarding way, but it was usually for the children of the most ancient and Noble Houses in the whole world. And while he probably did have enough money, she wondered just exactly why he would've wanted to get rid of his glasses.

She still hadn't come up with anything, although the conversation between the Golden Trio had seemed to range from various topics, although mostly Quidditch and Hermione still trying to get some information out of Harry, although she had no success. Harry had changed the subject quickly by asking Ron something when Hermione was about to ask a question, and it was evident on the witch's face that she was not liking it at all. Luna was still reading her magazine, and Ginny wondered when she was going to get around to introducing herself, knowing that Luna hadn't yet. But, she pretended to still be thinking, when in reality she was listening to see if Hermione could get any information out of Harry.

When the trolley cart finally came around, Ginny's queasiness was gone. Harry and Ron had bought some snacks, although Harry had given her a chocolate frog saying, "You look kind of pale, Ginny. You okay?"

"I'm fine," she smiled, "Besides, you're paler than I am."

He smiled at that, and she ate the candy, and immediately felt a little bit better, as the food washed away the rest of her nausea. Hermione then had the chance to go off on another rant of questions, although Harry cut her off before she got too far, "Like I said, I'll explain _**later**_. How was your summer, Hermione?" The fourth year looked at him through narrowed eyes, knowing what he was doing again, but she told him how her summer had been.

When the Quidditch World Cup was brought up, Harry answered honestly that he wasn't able to attend, since he had been 'traveling' around that time. Exactly where he had been, he didn't answer. But he couldn't have possibly gotten out of the country, so she supposed that he had been traveling around the wizarding areas, and possibly into Muggle London as well. He also admitted he had heard about the Death Eaters attacking after the Cup, although he saw no cause in worry. Finally, Luna actually said something.

"Daddy said that there were probably pipperglimps convincing them to make an appearance. Or it could have been the wrackspurts messing with their heads," she said, before lowering her upside down magazine so they could see the girl's silvery blue eyes.

"Hello," Harry finally said, and she suspected that he had been waiting for Luna to say something, "It's nice to meet you, miss?"

"Luna Lovegood," she answered, "It's also nice to know that you no longer have wrackspurts, either. I feared that they would never go away."

Harry smiled back at her, obviously slightly confused by what she had just said, although unlike other people, he actually didn't ask what she was talking about, surprising Ginny a little.

Luna then went back to her magazine, while Hermione looked at the girl oddly. Ginny hoped that they wouldn't argue as much as Ron and Hermione did, and the chances were high in her favor since Luna was not a person to argue with people, although she did stand up for her beliefs, as almost any person would do. Ron, who was currently eating a chocolate frog, was watching them closely, although he made no comment. Hermione huffed before she turned back to Harry and gave him a glare, although the boy did not react to it at all. "Harry," she sighed, "Why are you trying to lie to us and make us think that nothing's wrong with you?"

"Because nothing is wrong, Hermione," he spoke with what she could actually deem close to a snarl, "Now will you please drop the subject? I really do not wish to fight about it, although you are making it hard to not do anything. I'm waiting on you three to figure it out, although if you don't I'll tell you soon enough."

"That isn't good enough!" Hermione replied sharply, "Harry! You've never hidden things like this from us!"

"Yes I have," he snapped, and Ginny watched with shock as they argued, "You don't understand! I thought a lot about it while before you all came. If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. And if you did believe me, more than likely you wouldn't want to be a friend to somebody's who—as _**dangerous **_as I can be." He made it seem like he was talking about being the Boy-Who-Lived, although there was double meaning to his words, Ginny knew it. "Don't give me that look, Hermione. I'm trying to figure out how to make this easier, but flat out telling you, well, it seems to be the only option I have at the moment. But I can't. Not without putting you three into severe danger. Ginny, it should be easy to figure out." He looked at her through pleading eyes, and she realized maybe she did have a chance at solving this.

"A little more time," she told him truthfully, "All I need is a little more time." He seemed disappointed, and she felt like she had let him down big time, although she didn't say anything.

"Then tell us!" Hermione retorted, "Surely there can't be anything worse than telling us the truth?"

"There is!" Harry finally shouted, "Rejection, fear, enemies, hatred, and disgust; you could wind up feeling all of those feelings towards me and you wouldn't even give a damn about me anymore! I'm not willing to tell you because I'm scared that you'll probably just turn your back on me! Merlin knows after having that feeling for almost ten years of my life I don't need it to happen again! How do you think I feel, Hermione? I feel like the world's biggest git for not telling you anything! But I'm not going to tell you what I know, not even under Veritaserum!" Ginny looked up at him, thinking about what he had just said. He wasn't lying now, all of it was true. She could tell. "I don't want to feel like an evil person, Hermione, but you're making it hard to not feel like that. You've known me for four years now; surely you could understand that I just really don't want to say anything that could endanger you all or possibly make you turn away from me."

"Why would we ever turn away from you Harry?" Hermione demanded, and suddenly, Harry had clenched his jaw again.

He didn't answer for a few good minutes, and Ginny felt unease once again wash over her, but judging by Ron and Hermione, to them it was outright fear. They looked as if Dementors had entered the compartment. What was going on? "You really want to know?" Harry asked, and he seemed to be calming down more. "You really want to know why I only contacted Ginny after my birthday. You really want to know why I don't want to tell you anything. You'll probably hate me for it." Ginny looked at him, her mind starting to put the puzzle together, and it was honestly horrifying. "I'm not going to blame you if you do hate me for it. I deserve it."

"No," Ginny whispered, "No. You have to be joking, Harry."

There was only one known cure to the Blood Replenishing Charm, and it was just as worse in the wizarding world, or at least Britain, when it came to whether or not healers and mediwitches would use the Charm or not. Ginny felt like she was going to vomit, although she didn't. She didn't want to believe this, either. It just seemed too unreal, like it was out of a nightmare than anything else. "Sadly, I'm not." He told her, and then he laughed forcefully and shakily, "I really wish I was. I'm a bloody monster, and it's already painful to be in here—and that's just the four of you. Imagine what it's going to be like in the Great Hall." He still hadn't looked up, and she knew he was trying to not let them see the battle he was having. She just couldn't bring herself to say the word—damn it!

Whatever she was going to say, she forgot it. Ginny now realized what he had meant when he had said he was dangerous; he really was. Not as in the Boy-Who-Lived and being constantly attacked by Voldemort dangerous, no, one of the other _**kinds**_. Harry held his head in his hands, and he was breathing rather heavily and raggedly. Ron and Hermione still looked scared and confused, although Hermione seemed to be trying to figure out just what was wrong with her friend, but to no avail. She didn't have the right clues, but Ginny did. And Ginny had realized just exactly had happened over summer break. There was a reason he had asked about the Blood Replenishing Charm and Dorea Potter, although she was only guessing with the latter. But knowing she was right was just the same as realizing the very person your brother is best friends with could be potentially lethal, well, it was not a comforting feeling at all.

Ginny blinked, and she didn't know how long they had sat there. When Hermione had tried to reach out to pat him on the shoulder, he said rather sharply, "Don't."

Hermione flinched from shock at what he had said, although Ginny knew better. After all, she had six older brothers. They had all been mean or moody to her at one point, and she had just learned to accept it rather than run away crying. Hermione, on the other hand, was an only child. She had no older brothers that teased her and no siblings that would make fun of her like siblings do. Yes, having a sibling (or six) toughened up a person, but that didn't mean that Ginny hadn't reacted to it. She was shocked by the venom in his voice, but decided to not say anything about it. She heard Luna turn on of the pages in her magazine, and Harry seemed to tense up at the sound. It was like he was having an attack of some kind, and Hermione looked at her friend suspiciously, although she made no comment on what she thought was wrong with him. But judging by Hermione's look, she wasn't even close to the actual answer.

This wasn't what Ginny had thought it would be. At first, she had thought that he had finally just had enough of the Dursleys—judging by what he had said in the letter, she didn't blame him. At the time, it had seemed like the most logical answer. But when she saw Harry's appearance, she knew she was way off; miles away from the actual answer. Ginny, to be perfectly honest, was still in shock. It shouldn't have happened to him, but yet it did, and now he was left with the aftermath.

"Ginny, what did you figure out?" Hermione asked her next, although her friend was not going to get a single answer out of her until Harry looked up; but of course, she was not going to tell Hermione that.

"I have to agree with Harry," she told them truthfully, "I want to tell you, but I'm pretty sure it's not the best of ideas." Hermione looked at her slightly angrily and Ginny knew that she was going to win this battle, her prediction proven when Hermione's expression softened and she turned to look at Harry again, who still hadn't lifted his head up from his hands.

"I'm fine," he said rather quickly, "I just have to get used to this."

"Get used to what?"

"Hermione, I said drop it. I don't want to be questioned at the moment," he retorted, before he lifted his head and the pain was clearly evident on his face, but he clamped his mouth shut and didn't say another word. His eyes were also closed.

When Hermione looked over at Ginny, she shook her head. It wasn't a good idea to get him riled up. The other girl looked at her oddly, before letting out a sigh and collapsing into the seat. Luna then folded her magazine and put it away, before looking at Harry. Her expression, while still dreamy, was laced with concern. But not like Ginny's facial features probably had, no, it was more sisterly. They had only known each other for a few hours, and yet she wasn't afraid of him and she knew what was going on. If Ginny hadn't been so shocked she would have found it humorous.

Ginny found herself waiting I anticipation. Now that Harry had lifted his head, she realized that she didn't want him to think that she didn't care. So, she would wait a while longer. If he was going to tell them before they arrived at Hogwarts, he would have to do it soon. Time was starting to run out, and Ginny wanted them to know before they got to the Castle, as it would be harder to tell them what was going on. But, it seemed that Harry had other plans as to how this was going to work.

"Give me a few minutes," Harry muttered, but other than that not moving hardly at all, save for breathing.

Ron looked at his friend with an expression a mixture of worry, anger, and confusion. Ginny tried to guess his thoughts. His best mare had just randomly appeared, looking sick and deathly pale. And now Harry was acting like—well, that. And now she knew something that he did not, and she was beyond worried, almost shocked. Of course Ginny had pretended she wasn't internally shocked when a situation that shocked her arose, but nevertheless, she was shocked. Hermione actually didn't know what was going on, and Luna too knew something, although nobody expected to get an answer out of Luna. So that left Ginny, although she wasn't saying a single word. It had to be incredibly frustrating.

But yet, the answer was also torture. It was like she was enduring the same fate, although she knew she wasn't. It was eating at her, though, and she hadn't even known it for more than three hours! How could she live with this for the rest of her life? A thousand _**what ifs **_swarmed through her mind, and once again she was distracted with those terrifying thoughts and what she was going to say. She couldn't just plain out-right tell Ron and Hermione, but it seemed that was what she had to do. What Harry was expecting her to do; she almost felt angry at him, almost. She wasn't going to tell them about it, she finally decided. That was his job. And although she did think it was slightly rude, she had overcome her shock now. He didn't exactly get himself in this mess, but he was definitely going to get himself out of it; she was sure of it.

"Is he okay?" Ginny asked Hermione, Ron, and Luna, as it appeared that he was sleeping.

"He's fine, Ginny," Luna told her, "Just some of the aftereffects of having an attack."

"An attack," Ron immediately yelped as soon as she finished her sentence.

Luna looked at Ron strangely, and replied, "Yes, Ronald. An attack of the sorts; it seems that the wrackspurts will have a permanent residence in your mind if you continue being clueless. But then again, I guess they always have had a permanent residence, haven't they?"

Ron blinked in surprise, as did Ginny. Did Luna just snap at him?

Harry's emerald eyes snapped open and he looked around at them, before he let out a sigh of relief, causing Ginny to shudder. He smiled weakly, probably guessing what she was thinking. "Sorry about that. You want answers Hermione, I get it. I don't want to be questioned any further. It will get annoying; I can assure you of that." When Hermione harrumphed, the weak smile turned into a full-blown grin, and Ginny rolled her eyes; of course he had to have a drop of the dormant Marauder Blood come to light (the only reason she found out about that was because Ron had talked about it so much with Hermione and they couldn't do magic at all while out of Hogwarts).

Ginny glowered at him, and he looked at her with slight remorse flitting across his features. She didn't like it one bit, the idea of leaving them in the dark. And Hermione was bound to find out sooner or later, so why not just tell them now?

Mentally sighing, she turned her head to look at the rushing countryside passing them. The landscape was quite beautiful, although that wasn't what was on her mind. She needed a distraction from her thoughts at the moment; like that was going to work. But, if they thought she wasn't in the mood to talk, she could just escape from this mess and let her mind process the information. Even if she was out of her shocked state, some parts of her mind still needed to process the information that it had just learned. And that was a lot of information.

_Harry. Why him, of all people?_

She knew who Dorea Potter was now. Her dad had taught her to not judge by what a person was, and she remembered asking him how he knew that one night when she was seven. Arthur just smiled in response before telling her that he had met a man who was a werewolf and very good friends with another person who was considered to be a dark creature, as well as two others. The other boy was born that way from his parents, and his mother was disowned by her family before she met his father. It all made complete sense now that she thought about it. She should have connected the dots sooner. It was so easy to see.

_Yes, you should have realized it sooner. Maybe you could have helped him._

Helped him through that? They wouldn't have been able to have gotten him out of there or rescued him if they had realized on his birthday, because he would have already been gone. And if Dumbledore or her parents had realized it on the day before his birthday, what could they have done to not terrify him? They hadn't even gotten their books yet, so Ginny couldn't have told them anything or grown suspicious, not to mention she only asked because he owled her almost a month later. She wouldn't have thought of it sooner, and she definitely wouldn't have told her parents without Harry asking about the favor.

She was almost in agony from thinking about it.

"Ginny?" Harry asked her hesitantly, and she turned to look at him. His expression was full of guilt, and Ron and Hermione grew quiet from their bickering, although Luna didn't look up from one of their textbooks.

She shook her head, but his expression didn't change to surprise. She wasn't going to tell Ron and Hermione something when it didn't even really involve her at all. That was his job, since it included him mostly and the two of them when it came to decide on what they were going to do. Harry let out a sigh, and collapsed into the seat. His expression hardened, and Ginny watched in silence, trying to not scream at him for not mailing them sooner, now that she thought about it. "What are you talking about, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Something he's about to tell you," she replied, "What he was thinking about keeping a secret from you two. I think he also realized that you would have figured out before it was even Halloween." Hermione frowned at her last sentence, although made no comment.

It seemed that Harry was in a better mood, so that meant Hermione hadn't bickered with him anymore, or at least not at the moment. His mood had turned sour quick enough, and she had to say, it was slightly frightening. But now, thinking about it, it wasn't all that frightening. At least not to her; he could lie about mood swings at Hogwarts, although he was going to need plenty of help from Ron and Hermione. She would honestly hex the both of them if they refused to accept this, as they had been friends for four years and it would just be bloody awful for Harry if in one day, they both left him. That would be terrifying, she had to admit it. Ginny now knew why Harry was so nervous. Well, she wasn't going to let this ruin their friendship. Not in a lifetime.

This could all go terribly wrong. She knew it. So why was she trusting Harry? Ginny honestly didn't know, but she had a feeling this would turn out for the better.

The sound of Luna closing her textbook broke Ginny's train of thought. Thankfully, Ron and Hermione hadn't resumed their bickering; instead, the two of them were looking at Harry worriedly. A good ten minutes had passed, although another twenty minutes had passed when she was in her last train of thought, and the only movement Harry was making was the steady rise and fall of his shoulders and chest. He had filled out this summer, she noted, more muscular. The other girls were going to be head over heels for them. Hell, Cho Chang already was, although she was more in love with Cedric Diggory, according to the gossips from Demelza Robins, one of Ginny's dorm mates to Emma Lotus, another one of her dorm mates.

Ginny realized that there had to be some sort of wards up at the moment, since nobody had come in here to shout at them for being too loud and the mandatory visit from Malfoy hadn't come. Probably a Silencing Charm too, judging by the fact she couldn't hear anything else except from the noise from inside the compartment, although it wasn't that much either, since nobody was saying a single word.

Harry's eyes opened and he shook his head before slouching. He looked at them a few seconds later, although he didn't smile. His eyes showed that he was nervous, slightly embarrassed, and a little bit hopeful. She could tell he was a pessimist about the whole ordeal, although she didn't blame him. She would have been a pessimist too.

Luna looked at Ron and Hermione with a mixture of curiosity and the same dreamy expression that would probably be permanently etched into her expression. Well, she was the only other one that already knew, so it would make sense that she was curious to see how Ron and Hermione acted.

Ron looked befuddled, afraid, and slightly excited. She could get why he was afraid, since this was a new situation, but why was he excited, if only slightly? It didn't even make sense, but then again, nothing did anymore. It sure felt like that, Ginny internally smiled.

Hermione also looked confused and afraid, but there was also a look of fierce loyalty set into her expression. The chances were very slim that she would get up and walk away, thank Godric.

_But how do I feel about this?_

Ginny felt a lot of emotions, although the ones that were more important were loyalty and hope. The loyalty was since she wouldn't leave Harry behind, and the hope was that Ron would be like a best mate throughout this. It was another chapter in a never-ending story, but this time it carried a plot twist, and a good one at that. But then again, Harry's story always had plot twists within every few chapters, it was kind of amusing.

Hermione shrieked in surprise while Ron paled several shades. Ginny almost told them to stop overreacting, but they had a right to do so. Harry turned away from them, a frown forming on his lips, and she hoped that Hermione and Ron hadn't ruined it. Because of Harry's 'saving-people-thing', they could very well wind up making him think that it would be best to cut off all ties with his friends. That was not true, she knew that, but he did make quick decisions that could sometimes turn out completely wrong. Harry would gladly give his life if it meant saving his loved ones, and it was a slightly worrying trait on occasion.

"Harry?" Hermione asked timidly, although he didn't turn to face her; he just stared blankly at the window.

Ginny sighed and looked at Luna, who seemed to be thinking on the same page as she was. Although Luna hadn't met Harry until today, the other girl pretty much knew everything about one person as soon as they met. It was almost ironic, if not slightly scary. That was one of the reasons why people didn't want to become friends with Luna, since she could immediately judge if they would be a good friend or not, although a lot of people made fun of her.

"It's not your fault, Harry," Ginny told him honestly.

He nodded in acknowledgement that he had heard her, although she knew that he thought otherwise about the subject. She did kind of want to slap him at the moment, or at least knock/hex some sense into him, but she didn't. It wouldn't help out the situation, anyways, although Harry probably did deserve it.

"You're not playing a joke on us?" Hermione asked nervously, and when Harry shook his head, she spluttered, "I'm sorry, Harry! I should have realized it sooner!"

_Damn it, Hermione! Wrong move by far!_

"You couldn't have done anything," Harry snapped, before turning to glare at her, "And even if you tried, it was inevitable. I know it's not fair, but life itself isn't fair!"

Hermione didn't say another word, although she did look slightly upset by what he had said. And yet, it was completely true. Life really wasn't fair. If anything, it could be a nightmare and a pleasant dream all at once. It just depended on how you took things and such. But knowing Harry, that part could be questionable at times.

Ginny would have scolded him, but she was looking at the picture inside her mind, it was like a burning hole. A chill ran down her spine at just the thought about it. But she wanted to hear Harry admit it before she thought any more about it.

Harry smiled again, although it seemed to be plastered onto his face, and it almost made her shudder. An entirely fake smile, although Ron paled again, she could tell out of the corner of her eyes. Harry seemed to almost laugh at the site, although he didn't give away his amusement. He was faking being happy, she knew that. But still—there was no reason to act so moody about it.

Two sharp, pointy, fangs were contained in his smile. Ginny again almost shuddered, unable to keep the thought on hold anymore. There was no denying it now; no turning back to the ignorant ecstasy of before. She was faced with the facts, and nothing more.

Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and all of that crap, was a vampire.

**A/N: Took me long enough to get around to the point. . . . But descriptions were called for, and explanations. Well, this chapter too me long enough to come up with, even if it is slightly shorter than I wanted it to be, but I couldn't think of what else to put in the chapter. But, I got it done! Thank goodness for that!**

**Response to snoopykid: Thanks! I've had the idea for this story for quite a while now, but I couldn't find the exact timeline and subideas to use for it. Thanks for the review!**

**Response to Davi: Insane? I guess you could call it that. I'm glad you liked it! We shall see what's going on **_**later**_**. Thanks for the review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Return

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

_**PART 1: FIGURE 8**_

_**CHAPTER 3: RETURN**_

The scent was mouth-watering.

Harry was disgusted, to be honest. The scent of the other four people in the compartment was like. . . . He couldn't even describe it. The best he could come close to was like the smell of roses, chocolate, blackberries, and honey. He was mentally and physically holding himself back from standing up and biting one of them. It was almost painful to be doing so, but he could live with it. It was better than letting himself bite one of them—he would never forgive himself for doing that. It was going to be a very eventful year, although he hoped that he wouldn't wind up doing something completely stupid. That would not be a good idea, to put it bluntly.

But still, the _**temptation**_! Godric, it was like he was an alcoholic! He was barely able to resist it. But they were his friends, well; Luna was a new friend, but still. He couldn't do that. Hell, it was like he didn't have any control over what he wanted anymore. Well, truth be told, he really didn't. It was all up to these new instincts, to these new abilities, to all of this new crap. He wasn't even really ready yet, or at least not ready to be in a room with so many students at once. If anything, he wanted to go home and just think about it. Yes, he had a month to think about it beforehand, but he wasn't ready. It was all up to them now; to stay or leave?

Biting his tongue, Harry waited for a few moments. He really didn't have any blood in him at the moment, save for a pint or two—if it was even that much—and that was from the kitchen, since it was especially preserved to be fresh upon opening. It was still disgusting; not the taste, just the thought. But he could deal with it, he had to. There really wasn't any other option. Well, there was, but he would prefer not to take that route, knowing that it definitely wasn't a helpful one at all.

Hermione and Ron were looking at him fearfully now. Well, he supposed it could be worse. They could be running out of the compartment screaming for their lives. It was just now; they could either walk away or help him. And after Hermione's rant, he knew it was likely that she would, but Ron was iffy. His best mate did have his faults. Like blaming Hermione for her cat, Crookshanks, killing Peter Pettigrew before thinking reasonably; and then there was also the fact that he had also blamed Hermione for thinking about how Harry's Firebolt had been from his godfather, Sirius Black. Well, it had been, but it was just a fact that he hadn't seen before. There was good reason to be cautious from how Sirius' fake charges had been made.

It seemed that fate was out to get him.

This was just such a _**nice**_ way to start off his fourth year. It was going to be an interesting year, he knew that for sure.

OoO

_Harry muffled his scream._

_ Blood; his blood, ran down his shirt, well, the blood that wasn't sucked up. He couldn't get it to stop. Realization struck him. He was going to __**die**__, if the bleeding didn't stop. No, scratch that—he was about to die. But strangely, he hadn't yet. But he knew one thing for sure. He had to get out of here. Before the Dursleys found him; before anybody found him, for that matter. Because if anybody did, even the bastard Vernon Dursley, they would be horrified at what they were seeing; an almost fourteen year old bleeding to death on the night before his birthday. What a nice mental image._

_ And yet, he didn't feel like he had in the Chamber of Secrets when he had the basilisk venom in him. That had felt peaceful, relaxing. This, however, felt like his blood wasn't only on fire, but his senses were becoming more and more hypersensitive. What the hell was wrong with him? This, for one thing, shouldn't have been happening! If anything, this was utterly impossible!_

_ Seeing through his glasses was becoming more and more hard. Finally, having enough, he threw his glasses onto the floor, only to discover that he could see perfectly without them. Oh God. Picking up his glasses off of the floor, and ignoring the pool of blood, he darted to his trunk and began packing, before he grabbed a few of his too big shirts and tore them to pieces before bandaging up his chest. If that didn't stop the bleeding, he didn't know what would. After a few more minutes, his trunk was packed, he had Hedwig's cage, and he had destroyed the locks on the door. Thank Merlin. He didn't want to have to stay here for any longer, although he almost snorted at the familiarity from what had happened last year when he ran away from the Dursleys. This time, though, it was going to change. For the better or for the worse, he didn't know. But he knew one thing for sure—he wasn't coming back._

_ Not in a million years._

_ He moved through the house rather quickly and quietly, and by the time he had reached the front door, he was relieved that nobody had heard him. In fact, the other three occupants of the house were sound asleep. He could hear Dudley and Vernon snoring, and the steady breathing of Petunia. Perfect. He slowly unlocked the door and opened it, the fresh air feeling good against his skin. He walked out of number 4, Privet Drive, and closed the door. "Bye you," he struggled to find the right words, "Abusive, horrible, rotten, bastards and bitch. Goodbye. And good riddance," With his farewell done, Harry walked through the night._

_ He didn't dare turn back. The steady blood flow prevented that. The fact that they were abusive prevented that. The fact that he had to live in a __**cupboard**__ under the stairs for the first ten years with them prevented that. He could go on, but right now he wanted to focus on running. There was no way he could take the Knight Bus, damn it, so running was the only option. If he even survived through the night, he couldn't go to the Weasleys. He wouldn't be able to go to the Quidditch World Cup. Because if he did, they would send him back to the Dursleys, and he definitely wouldn't go back; he would rather face Voldemort right here at that exact moment than to go back to the Dursleys._

_ With a jolt, he almost tripped. His steady breathing became ragged, and Harry was forced to stop in his tracks. This was it, wasn't it? But yet again, he was proven wrong. He felt like he was on fire. His eyes snapped shut. __**Make it stop! Just get me out of here!**_

___With a whoosh, he realized he wasn't where he had been moments before. Right now, he didn't care where he was at, as long as this pain would just stop. And just like that, it did. But, it also led to him collapsing onto the floor. That was just great, although he was glad that the pain had stopped._

_ Minutes later, Harry opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar room. Well, it looked kind of like a mixture of both a muggle and wizard's living room. Groaning, he sat up, trying to make sure that he didn't feel like vomiting, which he didn't. Instead, he felt—kind of energetic. That was when he realized he wasn't bleeding anymore._

_ "Shite," Harry cursed, before he lifted up his shirt to look at the makeshift bandages._

OoO

Harry mentally shook himself away from the memory.

"I'm with you all the way, Harry," Ginny told him quietly, "My dad always taught me that just because somebody has a condition that labels them as 'dark', it doesn't mean that they are. And I know you're not a dark person, so there." She then looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks, Ginny," he smiled back.

Hermione nodded, although she seemed at a loss for words. Ron, however, was going from ivory white to red to purple to blue and then back again. Harry gulped. He hoped this wasn't a bad reaction. "I'm with you, mate," he finally said, and Ginny and Hermione let out audible sighs of relief while Harry grinned. Luna smirked, but didn't say or do anything else.

The rest of the ride was a series of questions fired at him, and most of them he answered, or at least tried to. Hermione was rather put out more than once, while Ginny seemed content with the answers he gave them, and Ron didn't really seem to care. But it was a nice thought to know that he hadn't lost his friends in the process. When Hermione finally got around to what was probably her most awaited question, he hadn't expected it, or at least, not fully. "Harry, how are you going to survive the school year if you don't want anybody else except us to know about it?"

He winced. This was a question he had mentally asked himself a thousand times and over, although he knew the answer. "Well, Hermione," he started off slowly, "I'm planning on going the year _**without**_, for your information. And if that doesn't work, the Forbidden Forest has to have quite a few animals inside of it, right?" He grinned. "Besides, resistance is the key." He said the last part cheekily, although only Ginny and Luna were giggling, Hermione and Ron both looked horrified. Maybe he shouldn't have said that.

But it was his plan. Supposedly, in a diary of his grandmother's, she complained at how his dad always acted like it wasn't a big deal. And although it was, it just wasn't something that could cause a lot of damage if a person knew what they were doing. And he thought he did, although he had been wrong before.

"You've got to be joking, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, "You'll starve yourself to death! You could kill one of the students! Do you want to have their blood on your hands? Do you want to be expelled, executed, Kissed, or put into Azkaban?" He didn't flinch, though, as Harry was expecting this part.

"He's capable of making his own decisions, Hermione," Ginny sighed, "If he thinks he can go—without—then I believe he can."

"I'm not going to die right away, Hermione," he rolled his eyes, "Besides; I do have a backup plan. And no, you already heard it. I'm not going to Dumbledore or whomever the new DADA Professor is. That would be a bloody nightmare. Not to mention the Dark Creatures Professor, whoever he or she is would probably be scared out of their wits. That or they would demand me to be expelled. I'm not sure about you, but I really do want to continue my education." He heard Ginny start snickering again.

"But Harry," Hermione said, "You do realize the risks, don't you?" Her voice was dripping with defeat and hesitance.

"I'm sure," he told her honestly, "Besides, best plans and ideas first, right?"

Hermione snorted. "If only I could teach that to you in our first year. _**Then**_, at least, you wouldn't have guessed Snape straight away, or caused any more problems in the other two years to come. But _**no**_, your logical sense wasn't able to come until later." He grinned while everybody else in the compartment burst into laughter.

Harry heard the conductor announce that there was another five minutes before they arrived at Hogsmeade Station. He mentally winced. Just another five minutes? Time had passed by fast, he guessed. Now it was time to prepare for the torture of stares and gasps. . . . Once again, he had to shake himself from yet another bad train of thought. He really needed to stop being a pessimist; a habit he had achieved over the summer.

Five minutes later, the three fourth years and two third years were making their way off the Hogwarts Express and towards the carriages. Harry heard Hagrid shouting, "Firs' years! Fir's years this way, watch yeh step!"

Harry walked to the carriages, and he stopped in his tracks. What the hell? Instead of the usual _**horseless **_carriages, the carriages now had skeletal, black, winged horses pulling them. Well, if they were even horses. Their ribs were showing against their skin and their black manes and tails were tangled as if they hadn't been brushed in a long time. He gaped at them, trying to understand why they were there. "Harry, what are you looking at?" Ginny asked him, and he blinked.

"You don't see?" he questioned and she shook her head.

"Harry, there's nothing there," Hermione replied, "The carriages are pulling themselves, as always."

"Well, something has to pull the carriages," Luna said calmly, "Besides, I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am."

Harry nodded before they all got into the carriage, and it whisked them off towards Hogwarts. Harry found himself almost too energetic with anticipation. Last minute worries. Again, this could all go horribly wrong. _Don't think like that!_

Within another few minutes, they had arrived at Hogwarts. His second home since he was eleven. Well—number 4, Privet Drive, never was his actual home. If anything, it was a hellhole. This place was more like his first home, actually, although he now had another one too. When they finally walked into the Castle, he focused on those thoughts. Harry didn't really pay attention to his surroundings, that is, until they walked into the Welcoming Hall, which led to many shrieks of surprise from the other students, and a few snickers from others.

Peeves the Poltergeist was throwing water balloons at the students.

Luna took one look at him before she ducked from an oncoming water balloon, which hit the floor at Hermione's feet. The young waif then sneaked into the Great Hall, untouched by the balloons being hurled at the students. The floor was quite, slippery, though. Two girls screamed as they fell onto the floor and Peeves cackled madly, "Ickle students slip and slide!" Harry almost snorted at the poltergeist, except he had to duck from having a water balloon being thrown at his face, or at least had tried to be.

Vampire reflexes could come in handy.

"PEEVES," McGonagall came into the room, shouting at the poltergeist. "PEEVES DON'T MAKE ME GET THE BLOODY BARON!" She almost slipped, but fortunately Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, two Gryffindors in Harry's year, successfully kept the Transfiguration Professor from falling.

Peeves stopped in his tracks—or flight, rather—and also stopped throwing the water balloons. His mischievous expression then turned into a scowl, and he said, "You're no fun!" He then blew McGonagall a raspberry before flying out of the Welcoming Hall, leaving some of the entering students shocked.

"Good riddance," he heard McGonagall mutter, and Harry fought down a snicker.

With a simple flick of her wand, she then banished the water on the floor, although several students jumped when they heard a loud crack of thunder, although they all continued to walk into the Great Hall; Ron soaking wet, Hermione in a rather foul mood from the prank with water splashed on her uniform, and Harry and Ginny miraculously not even slightly damp. There were several odd looks passed their way, although he was expecting it. Harry did get stares like that every year, although it had more to do with being the Boy-Who-Lived than anything else.

Sitting down with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, Harry waited for the first years. When they did come in, led by McGonagall, they were soaked from the downpour going on outside. One of them actually had Hagrid's coat weighing him down, and he looked like Colin Creevey, a boy in Ginny's year. He followed the boy's stare, which was actually Colin, before turning back to look at the eleven year old, who mouthed to his brother, 'I fell into the lake!' And gave his brother thumbs up; before the Sorting Hat began its song.

When that was finished, the Sorting Began; Dennis Creevey became a Gryffindor, and it ended when, "Wolpert, Nigel," also became a Gryffindor.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, and welcome if you have just been sorted," Dumbledore said as his start-of term speech, which was never very long, "May I remind students that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds. And now that that is out of the way, let the feast begin!"

The serving plates then weighed down the table with food, ad Hermione eyed Ron with disgust when he loaded his plate very full and immediately started to wolf it down as if he wasn't going to eat again for a long time. Ginny just snorted at the behavior, but didn't say anything. Harry, used to it, didn't do anything, although he didn't feel like he wanted to actually be there. It was like the scent before—except this time it nearly overwhelmed him. That definitely was going to take some getting used to, although he had expected it. But then again, there were a lot of things that he would have to get used to. This was just one of them.

"That's disgusting," a girl sitting next to Ron noted. "Can't you just slow down and actually enjoy the food rather than eat like you're starving to death?" Ron ignored her.

The girl had light brown hair and green eyes, although she seemed to not be having a good day at all. Her hair was slightly messy, and her whole expression was just of a person rather moody. "Sorry," Ginny apologized, "He's been doing this since I can remember, Alice." The other girl snorted.

"Then maybe he should learn some proper manners, it would do us all some good to not have to see him stuffing his face every single day. It's annoying and it makes me want to vomit."

"I second that opinion," another girl with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes said, "Annoying food habits. Ugh."

Harry and Ginny grinned at the younger girl's comment. She was no older than a second year, although she seemed to be good friends with Alice, but the green-eyed girl seemed to be in Ginny's year. "At least Romilda isn't sitting next to you, today, Demelza," Alice commented, and the other girl groaned.

"Romilda can go gossip all she wants, but I ain't going to do it. Besides, I'd rather play Quidditch than act like a housewife who has to have an annoying husband. Gossip doesn't get you anywhere in life, but having good broom skills and having a backup plan if that doesn't work out actually gets you food, a house or flat, furniture, and plenty of other things." Demelza paused, before adding, "_**And**_, I don't want to end up being a woman with no rights."

"Thanks for the rant, Demi," a boy sitting across from Demelza said sarcastically.

"You can be quiet for all I care, Sky," Alice snapped.

"You wound me, woman!" Sky joked, and Harry snickered. "Tonight, I'm going to crawl into my bed, eat what's left of my sweets, and just think about dying until I actually do because of what you said! Really, I'm no Romeo or any other whimsical Shakespeare character, so don't expect me to act like one!"

"Who are Romeo and Shakespeare?" Demelza asked.

"You don't know who Shakespeare is?" Hermione asked, and when she shook her head, Sky burst into laughter. "Shakespeare was a famous muggle writer for plays, and the play he's referencing to is about a muggle man by the name of Romeo and a muggle woman by the name of Juliet falling in love even though their families are rivals. In the end, the two of them commit suicide because of a plan gone wrong when Juliet tried to escape by acting like she was dead, so Romeo killed himself. When she saw his body, she killed herself too."

"I didn't need to know that," Alice sighed, "Thank you, Granger, for setting that image forever into my mind. Now I'm going to have nightmares!"

Harry snickered once again, as did Ginny. Their conversation was really getting out of hand, although it was also humorous. The wonders of how little wizards and witches grew up without muggle technology, the wonders. Although by then, he had to block out the conversation since it was a heated argument with Sky (he was sure it was the boy's surname), Alice, and Demelza disagreeing about why they had to be there. Harry, meanwhile, looked at Ginny and asked, "Do you know these people?"

"Nope," she lied. "Or at least, not Demelza; I know Richard and Alice, although we are only friends."

Harry snorted. Of course the three of them had to sit right next to him, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. A few moments later, he turned back to look at Ron still wolfing down his food, although Hermione seemed to be angry at something. "Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked.

"What's wrong is that these—_**house-elves**_—are being treated like slaves! They have no rights, they don't get any pay for what they do, and they don't get any sick days off!" she huffed. "They must want to have rights!"

_What a fun thing to discuss, _Harry mentally groaned, before he chose his words wisely. "Hermione, you got it wrong. They like to work with no pay or sick days. And don't say that they are brainwashed, because they aren't. They are usually not abused except for when they work for dark-aligned families, and even then they punish _**themselves**_ for doing something wrong, although the dark families usually punish them for no reason." She looked at him in shock, so he added, "It wouldn't do any good to try and help them when they don't want it, Hermione. I know you're trying to do some good, but maybe try to help out the ones who are abused? It's not right to treat any person, magical or not, with disrespect when they serve you because it's in their species' description."

Hermione looked at him thoughtfully, while Ginny nodded. "It's different in the wizarding world, Hermione. I think you're referring to the slavery that went on with the muggles." When she received a nod, she continued, "But in our world, slavery doesn't really exist, except for the abused house-elves. Like Harry said, they deserve respect but not all of them get it."

"You have a point," she admitted, "Maybe I'll try it. But house-elves aren't the only ones treated unfairly! It's all of the magical creatures!" She glanced at Harry, but he didn't react to what she had said. "The goblins aren't treated with respect for handling our money!" she then lowered her voice, "Werewolves can't ever find jobs, vampires are dubbed murderers just because of their species. Elementals aren't treated with respect for their powers; I could go on and on, but I won't."

Now, he reacted. Harry's expression darkened, and he nodded. "You're right. _**They **_aren't treated like they should be. Our world can be really messed up sometimes." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Not always, it's just we have the blood purists in our government, although that's mostly in Britain only. France isn't pro-purity at all, although Bulgaria is, more so than we are. Greece isn't pro-purity either, and most of the Asian countries aren't, as well as the States and Canada. But minus, France, Greece, Iceland, Switzerland, and Norway, almost all of the European countries are like us. Durmstrang doesn't even accept muggleborns, and they teach the Dark Arts."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked while her eyes were widened from shock.

Ginny shrugged. "When you're considered a 'blood traitor' by the dark families, it doesn't really matter. But when you have a parent who works at the British Ministry, a brother who lives in Egypt, and another brother who lives in Romania, you pick up a few things."

The main course then disappeared, and then the desserts appeared not even a moment later. Harry helped himself to some treacle tart, while Hermione nodded, although she seemed slightly speechless at the whole idea of Britain being behind on what most of the rest of the world thought. But of course, not many people would be willing to help them if another Dark Lord rose up from the UK; it would give the British wizards and witches a bad reputation to almost always being dark. It was like the whole world was watching them, trying to decide if they were really that set in the old ways or not.

Harry looked up at the Head Table, slightly surprised to see another chair added, while another was empty. The one that was filled, though, belonged to a woman with strawberry blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. She seemed to be bored, and wasn't even touching anything on her plate. Her eyes flickered from table to table, until she finally looked at Harry, but only for a split second before she gazed at others. He got the feeling that she wasn't much for the teaching position, but she seemed to be okay with it just the same.

Harry saw several other students glancing at their new Professor every so often, but she didn't seem to care. Finally, the desserts disappeared and Dumbledore finally said the rest of his speech, "I would like to announce that we have two new teaching positions. Professor Rosebush," the woman sat up a little straighter, but didn't do anything else, "Shall be teaching the Dark Creatures Class, while—" But he was cut off when the enchanted ceiling suddenly gave off a loud _**crack **_from the lightning, and several kids jumped and a few of them shrieked.

The lightning didn't stop, until somebody stopped it and walked into the Great Hall. The man had not much of a nose, a mane of dark grey hair, a missing leg, and while one of his eyes was beady, the other was seemingly tied down to his head, and was large and electric blue. He walked slowly up to the Head Table, while Harry heard Ron mutter, "That's Mad-Eye Moody!"

"Alastor, it's good to see you," Dumbledore smiled, and Moody bowed his head before taking out a gold flask and drinking from it. Harry had a feeling that it wasn't pumpkin juice. "And for our Defense against the Dark Arts position, Professor Moody shall be teaching.

"On further notice, the Quidditch matches for this year shall be cancelled."

Several students shouted out, while Harry felt the blood in his system go cold. No Quidditch? No diving for the snitch to help his team win the House Cup? The noise eventually died down, and Dumbledore went back to his speech, "In other news, the Triwizard Tournament shall be hosted here at Hogwarts." Harry's jaw almost dropped at that point. The Triwizard Tournament; one of the most dangerous magical competitions that led plenty of students to their deaths was going to be going on this year!

"You're joking!" The twins, George and Fred Weasley, shouted, causing some of the students to laugh.

"I can assure you Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley; I am not," Dumbledore chuckled, "Due to the high mortality, the Triwizard Tournament had been canceled, until now. The British Ministry of Magic has brought it back, to test to see if we can continue the tradition. More information will be given out on Halloween. Now, off you trot!" He finished, and students started to leave the Great Hall, many of them with clueless expressions.

Harry grimaced as he started to walk towards Gryffindor Tower. Was this an insane idea that the MoM came up with? Yep. Having read about it in the books he had, he knew just what might happen. A student could wind up dead. But really, why would they want a tournament like this? Maybe there really was a lot he had missed over the summer, although he doubted it. Even Ron and Ginny hadn't known what was going on. Yet again, he was proven right that this was going to be an interesting year.

OoO

Harry couldn't sleep.

It was well past two in the morning, and he couldn't sleep. Tomorrow (or should he say today) would be the first day of classes. Maybe History of Magic would be their first class so he could catch up on some sleep, although he doubted it. Hermione would probably try to scold him for not getting enough sleep and sleeping on their first class on the first day back to school. And that would not be fun. Maybe he would have Professor Rosebush, although once again, he doubted it. He knew one thing for sure—she wasn't going to be a teacher like Lockhart or Quirrell.

And then there was Moody. Mad-Eye Moody, known for his legendary auror skills, rivaling only Harry's great-grandfather, Orion Potter. It would be yet another interesting class. Something he was slightly dreading. What were the chances that Moody would see right through Harry's façade? But then again, Rosebush would also probably see through the outer appearance? He shuddered. She would for sure, and Moody probably would. He was going to trust two complete strangers—well, not really trusting them.

A new train of thought entered his mind. If Voldemort ever returned—which he would, Harry knew that, having seen him two times in his Hogwarts education already, both times he nearly died—but he wasn't just going to fight to help out everybody around him. The feeling slowly settled in. He was going to have to fight for not only his freedom to live his life, but for his freedom to not be openly executed because of what he was. What a happy thought.

Harry thought about it some more. If he survived through this, if he killed Tom Marvolo Riddle, magical Britain probably wouldn't ever be the same again. He knew of what was called 'the Underground', although it wasn't a popular term used. Basically, it was every single person who was neutral or light but not allowed associating themselves with the wizarding world hardly at all. No jobs in the countries that were against what they called 'dark creatures', being treated slightly higher than dirt, and not being able to go to Hogwarts at all. The outcasts of the wizarding world, Harry supposed. It was an extremely hard life. But if he killed Voldemort—there would be none of that at all.

There was a lot at risk.

It felt so unreal.

He knew he shouldn't dwell on it—but still. It was quite a burden on his shoulders.

Harry let out a sigh. He really wished he could deal with this _**later**_. However long that may be, he could deal with it, just not now. He was supposed to be sleeping at the moment. In fact, if the Silencing Charm wasn't guarding his bed, he knew he could have been able to hear the rest of the fourth year boys' snoring. It turned out that the Charm could block out his hearing, so he didn't have to worry about that part. . . .

Closing his eyes, Harry tried for the umpteenth time tried to go to sleep, but once again, it didn't work. After about another hour, he finally gave up, knowing it had to be nearing four in the morning at least by now. Pushing the curtains aside, he jumped out of bed before taking off the Charm. Neville, Dean, and Seamus hadn't asked when he had done that, so he hoped they just assumed he didn't want to really talk or that he just had a stressful day. . . . That excuse would probably work if anybody asked him; he knew Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would confirm it.

That was another thing he had thought of over the summer. He hadn't helped out Ginny in his third year, even though he should have. If anything, he felt extremely guilty about it. It probably hadn't helped to have the person who saved her from Voldemort just too seemingly not care about her afterwards. And although he knew she didn't like to be babied (seeing how Ron always said she was his _**baby **_sister) and that she probably didn't want any sympathy from anybody, but even he knew that having some sympathy would have helped out.

Looking at the clock, he realized it was almost six in the morning. He had been up all night; seriously? Well, it made sense. Shaking his head, he quickly got dressed, before walking out of the fourth years' boys' dorm and went down the stairs, leading to the Gryffindor Common Room. It was silent, which was strange, but then again, it was very early in the morning. He was used to even hearing the quietest of whispers, but now. . . . It just felt empty. Like a bottomless pit.

He walked out of through the portrait hole, the silence once again noted. He knew it wasn't because of curfew, but Merlin, it was almost unnerving. He had been so used to leaving the Gryffindor Tower with Ron and Hermione for breakfast, the chatter of other students walking to the Great Hall quite loud. Finally, he heard some noise—but it turned out to just be three giggling girls who seemed to be gossiping. Letting out yet another sigh, he made his way right past them—only to have them giggle louder. What was with the giggling? Maybe he just didn't really want to know, no, he was sure he probably didn't want to know.

Reaching the Great Hall and discovering that only a few Ravenclaws and Professor McGonagall were there, he walked over and sat down at the Gryffindor table, he helped himself to some eggs and toast, not really hungry for anything else at the table. _Way to go, thinking like that._

Mentally smacking himself, Harry then waited for his friends to come down.

**A/N: The chapter is done! Yes! Extremely tired (as always), but I got it done! Yay for me!**

**On another note, this chapter was quite difficult to write, with trying to keep the flow going. Writer's block on more than a couple times, but it came out in the end.**

**Response to Avid Reader: Thanks? Anyways, thank you for the review!**

**Response to Guest: Thank you! Yeah—it was winded, but then again, how would you react when you found out your friend was a vampire? Ginny went into shock, to put it bluntly. Thank you for the review!**

**Response to Davi: I'm glad you understand! A lot of inter monologue, yep. Thanks for the review!**

**Response to Lord Otello: I'm glad you liked it so far! Thanks for the review!**


	5. Chapter 4: Impressions

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

_**PART ONE: FIGURE 8**_

_**CHAPTER FOUR: IMPRESSIONS**_

"You're up early," Harry noted, and Ginny glowered at him, although he didn't even flinch back.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied, before sitting across from him and groggily helping herself to breakfast

"You look like hell."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically, "You know, it isn't really my fault." She narrowed her eyes at him, and he chuckled.

Well, it wasn't entirely his fault either. She just had a—relapse. It happened occasionally, but it was still something she didn't really like to talk about. Ginny didn't want to tell her parents, or her family for that matter, that she still had nightmares of the Chamber. It was humiliating, even though her whole family and Harry convinced her it wasn't. Most kids after a traumatic experience just shrugged it off, but why couldn't she? Was it just because Tom made such an impression after he left? Maybe she didn't want to know the answer. But he still caused her to be full with unanswered questions last night, as well as the fact that there was going to be the Triwizard Tournament hosted at Hogwarts. She didn't really know what it was, but judging by Harry's reaction and what Dumbledore had said, she didn't want to be in it.

Hermione and Ron came down a little while later, both of them glaring at Harry, although knowing them, they had gone crazy at searching for him until they figured out he was probably down in the Great Hall. But soon enough, the trio was chatting, leaving Ginny feeling a bit left out, until Harry asked her something and she was also engaged into the conversation, dreading the moment when the timetables would be handed out. It wasn't that she didn't want to go to class, but it was just—

She pulled herself away from that thought and threw a disgusted look when she saw Ron once again shoveling food into his mouth. It was like he was a bottomless pit!

Later on, McGonagall was handing out the timetables. Taking one look at hers, she was slightly surprised. Her first class of the day was Dark Creatures, with Professor Rosebush. Ginny wasn't sure that this was going to be a fun class—she didn't want any of the professors to know what was going on with Harry, although Dumbledore of course knew. And Rosebush could probably already tell if she was an expert on the subject. But, well, something was up about the professor, she just couldn't place it.

"Snape first, then Trelawney after lunch," Ron groaned, "We're in for a rough day."

And indeed the fourth years were, at least.

OoO

The sound of the door closing to the classroom caused several students to jump in surprise, although Ginny was expecting it. Rosebush slowly walked to the front of the classroom, but she wasn't like any of the other teachers. She just seemed—like she didn't really care. It was a startling piece of evidence.

The professor turned to look at them, her eyes narrowed before she began her speech. "Elementals, fae, werewolves, vampires, centaurs, and Veela; what do all of these beings have in common?" She paused, although it was clear she wasn't expecting an answer, "They are considered dark beings by our Ministry of Magic. Sentenced to a life of hell and burning hate for us humans. Why? Because we do not let them actually live their own lives. The Ministry controls what they do; controls how they do it, and don't let them have jobs and make them have hard times getting money in the end. In my class, you are going to learn how they survive, how they function, and most of all, the reasons why we are all human beings under the labels.

"Now that that is done, I have one question that is simple enough for all of you. What is the Underground? Why does it exist?" Ginny cautiously raised her hand. "Yes Miss Weasley?"

"The Underground is where all of the considered dark creatures exist. It only exists in countries that do not let these beings live freely, and causes a mutiny in some extreme cases, often leading to that existing Underground either being killed or fleeing the country."

"Good. Fifteen points to Gryffindor, although, I must ask, why did you say _**considered**_? Aren't all dark creatures that way?"

Ginny shook her head. "As you said, Professor, most of us are all human beings. Not all werewolves wish to transform every full moon. Not every vampire wishes to suck people dry of their blood. Not all fae wish to have their abilities. It's a matter of perspective."

"Another ten points to Gryffindor; I want you all to remember what Miss Weasley has said. There are monsters to the core out there, take Fenrir Greyback for example." Everybody shuddered. "And Derrick Sanguinem," only half of the class shuddered this time, "But most of them do not wish to be that way. At the current moment, there is no cure for lycanthropy. And there will never be a cure for vampirism. But you must remember that besides what their—_**conditions**_—call for, they are ordinary people.

"Now then, I have high expectations for this class. You are not going too purposefully hex, insult, or any other harmful or offensive ways to other students in this class. If you do, it will result in a detention. I do not care how many points I have to take or how many detentions I have to give you to make you learn your lesson if you wish to use that behavior. I will make my point." She looked sharply at the troublemaking Gryffindors (meaning Richard and Alice), before adding, "Take out your books and turn to page fifty three. Our first topic begins with werewolves." A few murmurs came from the Hufflepuffs since it was a double-lesson, but other than that, nobody said anything.

Sure enough, when Ginny took out her book and turned to page fifty-three, there was a wolf with black fur and yellow eyes staring at her. A few kids muttered about the Grim, although Ginny wasn't that superstitious. If they believed in the Grim, that was fine, but she didn't.

"Lycanthropy, only coming second in one of the most known considered dark creatures in the world," Rosebush began, "Often recognized for their wild animal instincts, smell of dog when around other beings with hypersensitive senses, and also the second deadliest creature in the world when they do not drink the Wolfsbane Potion during the week before every full moon. Popular to contrary belief, they are not allergic to silver.

"The Wolfsbane Potion helps a werewolf keep his or her human mind during the transformation, although sugar makes it useless. The Potion was discovered by Damocles, a potions engineer. Now, I'm sure you have already covered this subject from last year and you will this year, but we will not only be looking into what a werewolf is but how they survive everyday life when they are outcasts because of the British Ministry of Magic.

"A werewolf, once again to contrary popular belief, will turn into a full wolf, except their eyes may or may not be the color they were in human form. At often times, people have mistaken a werewolf for a true wolf, and have wound up infected with lycanthropy. But do not be mistaken, a werewolf that allows his or her animal mind to not be put at bay with the Wolfsbane Potion is just as vicious as a true wolf, even more so. A werewolf when not in a human state of mind and not allowed to attack anything will often bite and scratch themselves.

"One of the most famous werewolves, as we have discussed, is Fenrir Greyback. Often known for infecting children at a young age, or killing them; I believe you know one of the people he has infected?" The silence that followed her question hung in the air, although many of the kids who had said that werewolves were evil before were now looking at their books in shame. "I thought so. I'm not going to say the answer, although I can tell you all know. Another thing that has often sparked up controversy among the Underground and people who support free rights is that suicide is often high in werewolves, much higher than vampires, in fact. Often times, it is because that a person who has lycanthropy cannot take it anymore, and gives up after usually years of dealing with it. Others are fine, although they are still outcasts by the MoM. Not everybody should be persecuted for what they have.

"Your homework is to write an essay on why werewolves should or should not be treated fairly. Please give statistics, background information, and the like. Remember, you didn't choose to have the color of your hair or your eyes, so why should you judge others when they didn't choose what happened to them? Please give an answer to that question too. Also, please read the textbook if you haven't already, especially the lycanthropy part. Discussions will be made about the answers to your homework and responses to the book tomorrow. Please note that I will not tolerate laziness in this class. Laziness often means that a person finds a class boring, and while you may think that about this, I'm not going to allow you to do your worse. I expect only the best from all of you, and that can only come from trying your hardest.

"Class is dismissed," Rosebush finished abruptly, "We will cover more on the subject in the next class." And with that, the students then began to pick up their things.

Ginny knew what came before lycanthropy in both the considered darkest creature and the most known one—vampires. She was surprised they hadn't started off with that topic, but it was relaxing just the same. Maybe Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the fourth years would be covering that before they covered werewolves, she didn't know.

After getting her things for her next class after lunch, Ginny slowly walked down to the Great Hall, contemplating her thoughts. Harry wasn't terrifying—not like Derrick Sanguinem, known as the best vampire murderer in the entire world. Many wizarding children at a young age were scared of the five hundred years old vampire, who was known to be a merciless person. He was similar to Greyback in the sense that he loved to infect children, especially since he had been infected at a young age, according to what the Ministry records on vampires had said. Sanguinem had only been infected at the tender age of three, and fourteen years later, the man was forever seventeen, and ready to kill anything he saw. Ginny shuddered at just the thought about it; Sanguinem attacking somebody she knew was a subject that she didn't like to think about. Paranoia wasn't something she had.

But still, everybody had always portrayed vampires as terrifying creatures. Harry wasn't terrifying, though. At times, he could be, but not usually. And at those times, it was only because he just seemed. . . . Hopeless; that again was something she didn't like to watch. The wizarding world, just like muggles, put too many labels on people. Being the only girl in the Weasley family for a long time, she knew this. The whole Weasley family had all been treating her like a baby, except for her grandfather and grandmother, Septimus and Cedrella, but both of them had passed away. The Prewett side of the family was pretty much the same, except for her great-aunt and great-uncle, Lucretia and Ignatius. Lucretia couldn't have children, but she found no reason to baby Ginny, considering the fact that the thirteen year old hated it.

Walking into the Great Hall, she sat down across from Harry. Immediately, Ron asked her, rather sharply, "Why are you here Ginny?"

"'Cause I can be," she replied, "How was Snape?"

Harry shrugged. "Awful as usual, to be honest; although at least this time he didn't let Malfoy try to sabotage my potion. He didn't take any points away from Slytherin, though; he took thirty-five from Gryffindor. An almost normal class, since he pretty much ignored me."

It looked like that Snape was still awful to the other three houses except Slytherin. Wonderful; to be perfectly honest, she didn't want to deal with Snape any longer, but since she had to, she didn't have the freedom to choose an option. Not until her sixth year, at least. And that was three years from now; quite a while.

Fred and George as well as their friend, Lee Jordan, suddenly slid into the seats next to her, their expressions awed. "We just had Moody," George filled them in.

"Well? How was he?" Ginny asked.

"Amazing," Fred said.

"No words other than that," George added.

And with that, the prankster trio left.

She heard Ron audibly groan. "We don't have Moody until the end of the week," her brother muttered.

She didn't say that she had the DADA Professor tomorrow.

Her next class was Transfiguration.

It went pretty well, although, Ginny had to say, Professor McGonagall seemed to be stricter than usual. Although, when she saw how the Gryffindors were quieter than usual, she barked, "Well? What is it? I'm sure you didn't have Divination yet." A few snickers arose but nothing else, and Ginny was now quite glad that she decided she didn't want to take Divination. "You had Dark Creatures, didn't you?" When she received a few nods, McGonagall continued, "Professor Rosebush does not mean to frighten you. She's had years of experience dealing with what she is now teaching, as she asks directly from the source, and is not much for the way society treats these 'dark' people, unless they really are dark. She only means to shed new light to what is going on, seeing how we are going to host the Triwizard Tournament. We will be dealing with a society that treats these people fairly, and another society who does not."

Well, that made sense, or somewhat at least. Beauxbatons accepted anybody who wished to attend, no matter how they had been born or if they had been bitten by a werewolf or vampire. But Durmstrang didn't accept anybody who was considered a dark creature, or muggleborns. They would be at a crossroads with two schools that usually did not get along at all. That would be just so _**fun **_to watch.

The rest of the day flew by in a breeze. Ginny's classes were pretty much the same as last year, save for Ancient Runes, which she got the impression wasn't going to be as difficult as a class as her brother Percy made it seem. Percy, the prat; she agreed with George and Fred. Percy was too stuck-up for his own good, and she knew eventually something bad was going to wind up happen. But for now, she really didn't care. He could be as obnoxious as he wanted to be, but he was treading a dangerous line.

By the time dinner came around, Ginny was ready to just about let out a sigh in relief. She had survived her first day of school. Nothing bad happened, no innocent escaped prisoners on the loose, and definitely no missing flying cars. It actually almost seemed—normal, save for the fact that most of the school was still talking about the Triwizard Tournament. But other than that, for once, there wasn't anything unusual about the school year so far. That would all change when the Triwizard Tournament began, though.

Sliding into a seat, this time right next to Harry, Ginny barely paid attention to Hermione and Ron debating about whether being in the Triwizard Tournament was worth it or not. Of course, growing up in a wizarding family, she knew all about how it would give a person eternal fame and glory. Personally, she didn't mind just being Ginny. But of course, Ron actually wanted to be known for something, and she didn't blame him. All of her older brothers had done something great, and she had known that he wanted to do something great too. But the Triwizard Tournament, an event where somebody could very easily die, was probably not one of the best ways to actually have a spot in the history books.

"How was your day?" Harry asked, as he looked at his best friends with an annoying expression; they fought too much.

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Same old, same old, although I had Rosebush today, first class; she's not exactly like you would expect her to be. She doesn't believe in discriminating people or making it so people, no matter the problem, have a hard time getting work, supporting a family, or anything else."

"Interesting," he noted, "I would've thought she would've been like a bunch of purists. Guess not, although, thank Merlin for that."

Ginny grinned. "Expecting the worse, huh?"

"Maybe and maybe not; don't give me that look! At least now I know what to expect, although, she might've been that way because she was told by Dumbledore, I don't know."

"Dumbledore couldn't tell her how to act or teach. Take Snape for example," she snickered.

"True."

The rest of the dinner passed on uneventful, since Hermione and Ron stopped bickering, seeing the expressions on Harry and Ginny's faces. Well, they hadn't been really bickering, for once. No, she shouldn't say for once. But it had just always seemed like that—never mind, for that matter. She didn't want to put anymore thought into that.

OoO

_**Vampires**_

_**Introduction**_

_**Often called creatures of the night for their nocturnal habits, vampires are the most known and dangerous magical species out there. Most children are frightened that the legendary vampire, Derrick Sanguinem, would wind up attacking them one day, or another 'creature of the night'. We often call them dark as the night, but that isn't exactly true.**_

_** Over the years, many people who have become 'infected' with vampirism are not 'dark', per se. Many of them after being bitten will possibly never be given the chance to get a job in countries where the views on people labeled as 'dark' for no reason are treated terribly. Some vampire children will grow up and wind up feeling a vengeance against humans, just because of these countries' leaders.**_

_** Not everybody chooses how they are born or turned.**_

_**Truth or Myth**_

_**There have been a lot of myths obtained over the years about vampires. Take these two for example; that they are allergic to sunlight and garlic. They are actually NOT allergic to these two things, or 'holy water'. The fact is they are not that easy to kill, although unless they are Sanguinem, then they likely don't want to kill people either.**_

_** A truth is that vampires need to survive off of blood. While it doesn't matter which type, per se, it would often be better for them to feed off of human blood. Animal blood does not make them as strong, although it is a good substitute. Resistance also comes into a part of the two main blood types, animal and human blood. The animal blood does not give much nourishment to the vampire, and while human blood does, many do not or won't donate blood to 'Mungo's for that reason. While some say that animal blood is more like just that—an animal, human blood however is often labeled as drinking the best thing you have ever had, which that part of results may vary. When it comes to building resistance, a vampire can last exactly five months before they perish of starvation. Their magic would often sustain them for four of those months, until it finally gives out on that part and makes the vampire slowly lose control of their mind in the last month.**_

__"_**Nox,**_" Ginny said.

__She closed the book, thinking.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Everything bad just seemed to happen to Harry.

She shook her head. Not everything bad happened to him. There were plenty of horrible and terrifying things and people out there, and he wasn't attacked by all of them. But it still seemed like it.

Ginny let out a sigh. So they would have to make sure for one, nobody connected all the pieces together because of this book. The wizarding world didn't need to know that the Boy-Who-Lived was a vampire until completely necessary. And hopefully that wasn't going to be for a long while. Then there was the fact that she didn't know how long Harry had gone without blood. . . . They would definitely have to keep an eye on that part. But it wasn't going to be easy if he always said that he was 'fine'. It would have a very bad consequence that was for sure.

Thunder cracked, and she unwillingly jumped in surprise. Hadn't they already had enough rain from yesterday? It seemed like nature didn't think so.

Life was confusing.

Collapsing onto her bed, Ginny looked at the blackness surrounding her, her mind in hyper-drive. Sometimes, being a witch wasn't all it was perked up to be. The magical world could be very terrifying; some of the creatures that muggles thought were myths actually real. Living in a world where there was a possibility that a werewolf would bite you or a vampire would suck your blood was a terrifying thought, although there were plenty of good people out there, just not enough to make that big of a difference. It was kind of ironic, thinking of how the wizarding world was probably even more prejudiced than the muggle world, since she would often listen to the stories Colin Creevey had about his parents and living as a muggle. She couldn't imagine living without magic, and it didn't make sense how a television worked. But nonetheless, it seemed like outright torture to live a life where all these things had happened.

Many of her classmates would grow up to live ordinary magical lives.

But it felt like she and Harry never could, although for separate reasons.

She was the girl who had unleashed the basilisk on Hogwarts. While not many knew that, if word ever got out, she would be shunned and called a dark witch, when she actually was not. Ron seemed like he would always be friends with Harry, so her family might often be put into the spotlight, which was not a very comforting thought. Growing up as the only Weasley girl, she was often babied, so that led Ginny to not liking too much attention at all.

And then there was Harry.

She didn't want to think about that part, considering the fact that she had already been over the details, but it was still there. The wizarding world would shun him when they needed him, when Tom Riddle came back into power. That would be a very difficult position.

Was it insane to say that after three years since she saw the small, black haired and emerald green-eyed Harry Potter going to his first year at Hogwarts that she was still not over him?

Scratch that—she was crazy about him. Now she was just better at hiding it.

Having grown-up with stories about Harry Potter, many young children now fifth years and younger had thought that he was somebody heroic and brave, and while she agreed with both of them, it was much to a lesser extent. He would save anybody and anyone who needed to be saved, except for maybe Malfoy, although even then he probably would. Many schoolgirls would've killed to be rescued by Harry—but they didn't know the full extent of what had happened with how Harry saved her. It had seemed like he was the light guiding her in a world of darkness, like he was the hope in her heart as she walked over the rubble of her mind. The rubble that she was left with and the darkness that Tom had brought with him just because of a simple black diary containing a memory; a dark, horrifying and twisted memory at that, truth be told.

Maybe she was just over-thinking these matters too much.

No, she probably was over-thinking these matters too much. Ginny wasn't much of a worrier, but honestly, it seemed like she was turning into one.

OoO

"Hi, Luna," Ginny greeted her friend.

"Hello. It seems that the wrackspurts are just loving to torture you today," Luna noted, "Your mind's all fuzzy, isn't it?" The Ravenclaw didn't even pause for an answer before she asked another question, "What's on your mind?"

It was one of those odd things about Luna. She just always seemed to know what was on a person's mind, and she could always read a person's expression with amazing detail. But, Ginny was one of the people who didn't mind that. Sitting down right next to the Ravenclaw, she replied, "Nothing really that pressing. Just some start-of-school jitters and other matters," she shrugged.

Luna gave her a dreamy smile.

The rest of her classmates began filling into their seats, although Moody had not made his appearance yet. She found that rather strange. Wasn't the Professor supposed to be somewhat on time? "The Professor's late. I suppose he has an infestation of nargles or some wrackspurts, at least," Luna sighed, before she changed the subject rather abruptly, "How's Harry? I hope the wrackspurts haven't come back for a vengeance."

"No, he's fine. Or at least, that's what he insists, although I trust him enough to accept that answer—for now. I think he's already a little stir crazy from all of the students staring at him. But then again, they always do."

_**BANG!**_

__Several students jumped in surprise as the door closed.

The class, to put it bluntly, was amazing and yet almost completely horrible.

Ginny had listened and watched in growing horror as the man who was claimed to be the best auror of his time demonstrated the three Unforgiveable Curses, and when asked, he had stated that they were old enough and needed to know what they were. The man was simply insane, in a sadistic sort of way. It was like he was expecting them to need to use these curses in the future. After class, though, many of the students were departing ways, all of them muttering about how insane the DADA Professor was. Sky even made a point of saying, "He's just completely bonkers. Who in their bloody right mind would do something like _**that**_? A bloody idiot, that's who," Although, he also got hit with a book for his language by Alice, which he then replied, "Sheesh! I can't even get a break, for crying out loud!"

_The man is quite mad._

Luna said a quick goodbye to Ginny before the dirty blonde Ravenclaw walked towards the Ravenclaw Tower, leaving the Gryffindor to her own thoughts.

Pausing for a second, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath before releasing it, and then continued on her merry way. She swore that although it was going to be an interesting year with Moody and Rosebush, the former was probably going to scare the crap out of all of them one way or another, especially his brutal ways of teaching. Wasn't showing off the Killing Curse a little traumatizing to her classmates at this age?

Why did the legendary auror want to come out of his retirement anyways? Sure, some more protection at Hogwarts since Harry had had trouble for the last three years, and some more protection after the Quidditch World Cup scare, to assure parents that their children were safe, but wasn't Dumbledore and the other staff members able to protect the school? And besides, Moody well-deserved his retirement, since she had heard from her oldest brothers and her father that he had brought down a great many Death Eaters, so shouldn't his retirement be kept as retirement? It was only fair, and the man had probably spent a great deal being paranoid (many called him mad, and she now had to agree with them) after all of that?

She was over-thinking again.

But still, the creeping feeling that something was wrong hadn't gone away, although it was probably just because of being forced to watch the three Unforgivables being cast, even if it was just on three simple spiders, it was still painful. Nothing deserved to be put under the Cruciatus.

Going down to Care of Magical Creatures, she felt a late summer's breeze fly by. Once again, she paused, although for more of the enjoyment than anything else. She missed the feeling of flying on a broom in the dead night, feeling the night breeze fly by her, the feeling of shivering when those breezes came. Of course, her brothers never knew that she actually was on their brooms, because if they did, they would have thrown a fit. But the memories were still equally cherished.

And so, Ginny continued on her way, hearing the laughter coming from her classmates all the while, many of them seemingly laughing at a prank played on one of the students.

Her worries now long forgotten, she joined them.

**A/N: And I'm back! I have to say, I'm thankful I got this chapter done. I had a really bad headache that lasted for a few hours, and then it turned into a full-blown migraine that didn't end until the second morning after. But no matter, I have updated!**

**Response to Avid Reader0907: Dorea is kind of mysterious, isn't she? As for Rosebush, interesting is a good thing to call her. Thank you for the review! **


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